Failed History
by A.G. Hart
Summary: Those who fail history are doomed to repeat it. A new CSI arrives, bringing her secrets with her. Can Nick help her learn from her past, or will she be doomed to repeat the same mistakes? Chapter 5 is in!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jennifer Moore rushed in the Las Vegas Crime Lab's locker room. It was her second day and she was already running late. Between her hair not cooperating with her, her keys hiding from her, and the stupid automatic garage door that didn't want to open, she had just moments to spare before checking in with her supervisor.

She breezed past a man, pulling a shirt over his head. _Nice abs_, she thought absently as she muttered an apology for catching him half naked. Then she hurried on to her locker not really giving him a second thought.

"No problem," Nick Stokes replied to the back of her unfamiliar head, which sported a ponytail of wavy red hair. "If I was easily embarrassed I wouldn't be changing here."

A smile spread across her lips as she recognized his voice. It had been a while since she'd actually heard it, but it still sounded exactly as she remembered. She half turned her head to reply, "Yeah, joining the force got me over my self-consciousness pretty quick."

"You were on the force?" Nick asked. "In Vegas?"

She closed her locker and turned to face him, trying hard not to grin too stupidly. "Seattle, actually."

"Well, welcome to Vegas," Nick said as he gave her a scrutinizing look. She was young, in her mid-twenties no doubt. She had high cheekbones with perfect almond eyes that were the color of peridot. Her eyes struck him as familiar, but he couldn't place her.

"Since it's not 'welcome back' I can tell you don't remember me. Do you?" she asked as she started walking back out. She wasn't going to say anything, but she had noticed the look of concentration on his face.

Her gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I don't."

She let out a giggle and internally rolled her eyes at herself. She wasn't a teenager anymore. "It's alright. It's been ten years."

"Ten years?" Nick rubbed his chin. "You must've been a teenager then."

She smiled wide. "Yup, 16." She realized she hadn't given him her name and so stuck out her hand. "Jennifer Moore, but everyone calls me Jenn. Although you might remember me as Simone," she quickly added remembering the folly of her youth.

He grabbed her hand and shook it. "Simone Moore," he repeated her name, trying to remember her.

"I looked different back then. I was kinda in to the goth thing, so my hair was black," she told him, trying to help jog his memory. Hoping she didn't appear too idiotic.

The faint tickling of a memory played at the corner of his mind. "Your mom is Jessica Moore?"

"Very good," she replied, surprised he had remembered that much. She opened her mouth to say something else, when her phone went off. She fumbled with the thing, trying to check it. After looking at it, she told him, "I have to go. Late on my second day!"

"Maybe we can catch up sometime," Nick suggested. It would be interesting to find out what she had been doing for the last ten years. Obviously she'd been well, she was a CSI now.

"That'd be great," Jenn enthusiastically agreed. "It was nice to meet you—again," she added as she left the room.

Nick shook his head after she left. His memory of her had come back and he remembered the insolent teen she had been ten years ago. He wondered what had happened to change her attitude. And from her keen reply, he had a feeling he'd soon find out.

* * *

Jenn Moore pulled in behind the SUV she'd followed to the scene. It was a simple b&e, so she didn't expect the scene to take too long. It would be a good first scene to process.

She found it interesting how differently she had to approach the scene as a crime scene tech versus a police officer. When she was on the force she was mainly in charge of securing the crime scene, making sure that it wasn't tampered with. Now she got to 'tamper' with the scene herself.

She grabbed the kit out of the back of her vehicle and then walked in to the house.

"Print the back door," ordered the CSI she was on scene with.

Jenn strolled down the hall that ran along the staircase to the second floor. She could see the door from the hallway and already noticed the broken out pane of glass. She imagined she wouldn't find many prints. From what she saw of the house so far and the fact that the owners were on vacation, the burglary appeared to be well organized.

She placed her kit on the ground, and then got out her fingerprint powder. She had some practice at it. Back in Seattle, she was interested in the crime lab stuff and got one of the techs to show her how it was done. Most people would think you just brush it on, but there really was an art to it.

As she was going to dust the broken pane of glass, she noticed something on a shard sticking down. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a small piece of skin and a little bit of blood. _What luck!_ She thought. Some possibly definitive evidence of who committed the crime.

Jenn knew this was one of the reasons she didn't want to be a beat cop anymore. She liked helping solve crimes and she wanted something less subjective than detective work. Being a CSI, it was all about the evidence and evidence doesn't lie.

Jenn and her mentor finished the scene in a pretty uneventful manner. They had found some interesting evidence that they hoped would lead them to the person who took this family's valuables. Jenn thought she did a spectacular job for her first scene. She realized, though, that they all wouldn't be that easy. And her second scene proved that.

She had just gotten all of her evidence to the proper departments when her phone went off again. Jenn was excited to be going out again and this time it was a dead body. She quickly found her partner and they were off.

Jenn had seen her fair share of dead bodies, being first responder on a lot of scenes. But this one, she had never seen anything quite like it. The victim was a man, or she assumed it was a man from the body size, not to mention the hair on the arms and legs.

The face was totally unidentifiable. It appeared the face had been disfigured with acid, along with the fingers and toes. The teeth had been smashed out. The chest held what appeared to be a multitude of stab wounds and the waist and pelvic region were covered with a bloody sheet.

"I don't think the maid service is going to be able to get that out," Jenn mumbled to herself. Then she wondered how many people would stay in this motel room in the future and not know the gruesome sight it once held.

"Print everything in the room," her partner told her. "Don't miss a single surface."

Jenn nodded and then got to work. This room was a lot harder to print, because there was other potential evidence all over the room that she didn't want to mess up. She didn't want to let a killer get away because she got sloppy.

Hours later, Jenn was back in the locker room, her head resting against her locker. She was trying to remember if she had turned everything in, going over the scene in her head, making sure she didn't miss anything.

"Weren't you here when I left?" the voice of Nick Stokes broke through her thoughts.

She turned her head to look at him. "Yeah, I was," she tiredly replied.

"Rough shift?" he questioned.

She moved away from her locker as she shrugged her shoulders and then gave him a weary smile. "Being that it is only my second shift, I really having nothing to compare it to. For all I know, it could be normal."

Nick let out a small chuckle at her reply. "Good point."

"And may you have a good night," she said as she left, to worn out to make small talk.

"Night," he called after her, sorry that she left so quickly. Although, after more than 12 hours working, he didn't blame her. He'd just have to catch up with her a different time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jenn Moore sat in the back booth at the diner around the corner from the lab. She had finally gotten off shift—only thirty minutes late today. She had spent her entire shift going over the evidence she had collected from the b&e and the dead body the day before. And concentrating that hard had given her a headache.

With eyes closed, she slowly massaged her temples as she waited on her soda to arrive. She still couldn't decide between a hamburger or chicken fingers, but figured when the waitress came back she'd just pick one. Although, at this point, any decision seemed too difficult. She thought maybe she just should have gone home.

"This seat taken?" a deep voice asked.

Jenn let out a sigh, planning to blow off whoever had decided it was a good deal to hit on her. She had a boyfriend. She wasn't interested.

"Sorry," she began, but stopped when she opened her eyes. A smile spread across her face. "I mean, sit down."

Nick Stokes slid in to the opposite side of the booth, returning her smile with one of his own. "Thanks."

"What are you doing here?" she was genuinely surprised.

He shrugged. "I'm going in to the lab early and wanted to get a quick bite to eat. What about you?"

"Just getting off shift and was starving," she replied.

"Well, I guess our stomachs just couldn't wait for us to catch up," Nick joked.

Jenn let out a laugh that lit her whole face. "Guess not," she agreed with him as the waitress approached.

"So, what brought you back to Vegas? Last I'd heard you moved to Minneapolis," Nick started after they finished ordering. "And you've obviously been to Seattle somewhere in there."

Jenn nodded. "Yea, mom moved us to Minneapolis after the trial to live with her sister. I ended up going to college in Seattle and joined the force there after I graduated. Mom moved back to Vegas about three years ago. And about a year ago, she got sick. So I moved back to help her out with my little sister." _ Not to mention I needed time to heal_, she thought to herself.

"Is your mom ok?" Nick asked with genuine concern. He remembered Jessica Moore as a tall, frail woman, with two black eyes and a stab wound to the torso from her abusive husband. Jenn, then Simone, had been defiant from the moment the police stepped in to the house. And her sister, Jacqueline, couldn't have been more than a year old.

Jenn was touched by his worry. "She's doing better, but Jacqui is a handful." Jenn smiled at the thought of her baby sister. With her dark hair and brown eyes, Jacqui looked like her father, who was not Jenn's father. Luckily, though, Jacqui had a different attitude than her father, who happened to be the one who stabbed their mom.

"What's your mom doing now?" Nick was sincerely interested. He often wondered if they ever really helped anyone.

"She's an accountant. After we moved to Minnesota, she went back to college and got her degree," Jenn paused, wanting to say something but not wanting to seem like an idiot. "You know," she decided to start. "I hated you when you came to my house that night."

Nick raised a questioning eyebrow. He had been called to a domestic disturbance, finding Jessica with a stab wound on the left side of her torso, baby Jacqui crying in her playpen, and an obstinate Simone in the corner. He hadn't imagined she liked him much at the scene, but hated him? "Really?" he questioned before taking a drink of his coffee.

"Yeah. You're the one that convinced mom to file charges," she told him.

"I didn't know that," Nick said, a little wonder in his voice.

"I was pissed because…" Jenn trailed off, about to reveal more than she had intended. "Because I was a teenager and didn't want to move," she finished, hoping he hadn't noticed her awkward pause.

Nick let out a slight chuckle. "Show me a teenager who isn't pissed," Nick replied.

"But," Jenn continued, "I really want to say thank you for it. Mom leaving Tom was the best thing that could have happened to us." _Could have happened to me, _she thought.

"So, how did you get in to law enforcement?" Nick was curious.

Jenn let out a laugh. "Same reason."

Nick was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You," she told him, figuring it couldn't hurt at this point. "After a while, I saw the change in mom and realized how much you really impacted her life. And I knew, I wanted to do that, to touch people."

Nick tried to suppress the smile that was overtaking his lips. Things had been rough since Grissom left and he had really needed to hear what Jenn had just said. "I think you give me too much credit," he tried to down play her statement, taking another sip of coffee.

Jenn reached across the table and placed her hand on his. He looked right into her sparking yellow-green eyes. "I mean it, Nick. You really made a difference in my life."

The warmth of her hand and her words caused the smile to finally win out. "Thank you," he managed to get out in a steady voice.

She was taken aback by the emotion in his eyes. Jenn didn't realize her words would touch him so much. In fact, she thought that he would probably think she was crazy because of them. To her, his reaction said a lot about the type of man that he was. And his emotion overwhelmed her.

She cleared her throat before asking, "So what have you been up to all these years? You must have a family by now if you didn't back then."

A tinge of sadness crept in to his smile as he shook his head. "No family. But almost killed by a stalker, framed for murder, buried alive by a mad man, you know, the usual."

Jenn's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe she had heard news of any of this. Then again, when your work tends to make the news, you tend not to need to watch it. "Wow. And I thought getting some cracked ribs and a broken leg was bad! What happened?"

Nick waved his hand dismissing her concern. He didn't want to rehash his past at this moment in time. He was more concerned with what had happened to her. "Forget me, what happened to you?"

She realized he was trying to change the subject and decided not to fight him about it at this moment in time. Besides, it was kind of nice to talk to a guy who was interested in what she had to say. "First responder at a vacant home where suspicious activity was reported. Me and my partner split up. I went around a corner and was greeted by a Louisville Slugger to the shin. After I went down, the perp proceeded to beat me with the bat until my partner found us. He probably would have killed me if my partner hadn't stopped him."

"I'm glad you're alright," Nick told her.

"Same to you," she replied as her phone started to ring. She looked down and her face flushed. Nick couldn't read the emotion, but it didn't look like a happy one.

"Everything alright?" Nick inquired.

Jenn flashed a fake smile. "My boyfriend, wanting to know if I was coming over."

Nick's face fell minutely. He wasn't quite sure why, but the news she had a boyfriend was disappointing. Nick looked down at his watch to cover his reaction. "Well, I need to be getting to work."

"Ok," Jenn's smile faded a little too. "Hope you have a goodnight."

"You too," he responded as he picked up his check and left.

Jenn let out a sigh as she watched him leave. She didn't know if she was going to be able to handle this. For the last ten years, Nick had been her fantasy perfect man—the night in shining armor. She was sure when she started for the lab that it wouldn't be a problem because she just knew the reality of him would shatter her illusions. Unfortunately, that was not turning out to be the case. _It's only day two,_ she tried to convince herself. _His flaws will show soon enough._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rob Forrester was a handsome man. At 6' tall his sandy blonde hair and naturally tanned skin accurately portrayed him as the surfer he was. His easy smile and gentleman's charm made him everyone's best friend and successful at his job as a pharmaceutical rep. Rob just had one major personality flaw—he was a bastard to Jenn.

"Where have you been?" he asked as she walked in the front door.

Jenn winced from the edge is his voice. She could tell he'd been drinking. "I got myself something to eat after work," she told him.

He walked over to where she stood by the door. "Who were you with?"

Jenn had to bite her tongue. She didn't want to make things worse by accusing him of having her followed. She should have known that's what he'd do once she started working again. "A coworker," she answered honestly, in a calm voice.

"A _male_ coworker," it was an accusation.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Yes, Nick Stokes," she gave him his name trying to show she wasn't hiding anything.

The corner of his mouth upturned. It was that half smile he got when he heard something he thought he could use against her. "_The_ Nick Stokes?" He asked as he cornered her against the wall. Rob had heard the story about the night Jenn's stepfather wound up in jail for ten to twenty.

"Yes, that Nick Stokes," Jenn confirmed, knowing this conversation wasn't going to end well as the stench of the alcohol on his breath stung her nostrils.

"And what does the great Nick Stokes think of our little liar?" he slurred, poking her a little too hard in the shoulder.

Jenn wanted to push him away. She wanted to slap the smile off of his face. But she knew, even with all her training and him being half drunk, he would still physically best her. And she knew she wasn't going to shoot him. She silently chastised herself for allowing herself to be put in this situation again.

"He doesn't know anything," she told him. "He asked about mom and Jackie."

"And you told him the truth?" he asked, knowing he'd caught her in her weakness.

Jenn's face sunk and she slightly shook her head from side to side. He knew the hits that hurt worse than fists. She looked down as she tried to fight the tears she felt coming.

Rob roughly grabbed her chin and made her look him in the eyes. "Be glad you didn't. Nick Stokes, your other coworkers, they would never accept you if they knew what I know. I'm the only one who'll ever love you for who you are."

"Maybe," it was barely a whisper that escaped her lips before she realized it and the consequences it would bring.

The fire flashed in his eyes and he punched her in the stomach. She doubled over from the hit and then he pushed her to the ground. Her shoulder slammed into the floor hard causing her to cry out. Then to finish it, he kicked her in the back. She knew better than to fight back.

"Stupid bitch," he muttered under his breath as he walked away. "Why do you make me do this to you."

Jenn held back her tears, as she was thankful he was wearing his tennis shoes and not his steel-toed boots. She didn't need a broken bone right now. She lay on the floor, silently crying for a few minutes. She cried because, no matter how much she wished it weren't true, he was right. Rob was the only one that would ever accept and love her after all she'd done. Even her mom didn't know the truth.

"Quite fucking crying," Rob yelled from the other room even though he couldn't see her. "And bring me another beer."

She let out one last silent sob, then quickly wiped her eyes. Jenn stood up, rotating her shoulder to make sure it wasn't injured too bad. She winced as she reached the top of her rotation, but her shoulder was fully functionally. She cursed herself as she did as he told her, wishing her self-respect was functional, but knowing it was too late for that.

Jenn tossed and turned all night thinking about where she would go and what she would do if—no when—she left Rob. They'd been together for four years now and she found comfort in him. He wasn't always a dick. He could be a downright knight in shining armor at times. Then she rationalized away what had occurred, convincing herself Rob had had a bad day and didn't mean it. He loved her—he couldn't have meant it. At least, she hoped he didn't mean it.


	4. Chapter 4

Jenn Moore looked over her shoulder, trying to make sure the locker room was empty. The bruise on her shoulder had spread over the last several days, meeting the bruise from the kick somewhere in the middle of her back in an array of ugly colors. She'd still felt it her entire shift and the hours of overtime she'd worked too. She had successfully hid it for days and wouldn't even be changing if her pen hadn't exploded on her.

Seeing that the room was empty, she quickly removed her shirt. And just as quickly pulled her fresh shirt over her head. Unfortunately, her arm got stuck in the sleeve just as Nick walked in.

"Woah," Nick breathed as he saw the discoloration. "What happened to you?"

"Shit," Jenn swore under her breath, as she hastily pulled the shirt down. Louder, so that he could hear, she grunted, "Huh?" pretending she didn't hear him.

Nick moved closer to her, making sure she was looking at him. What she saw was a look of concern on his face. "I said what happened to your shoulder."

This was the part Jenn hated most—the lying. Bruises would fade, but words could never be unspoken. She chose her words carefully. "I hit the floor."

"Must have been one hell of a trip," Nick replied, having no reason to not believe her.

Some of the tension left her. "You're telling me." She subconsciously rotated her shoulder and offered no other information.

"Oh," Nick said, remembering something. "What is your mom's favorite flower?"

Jenn was a little confused. "My mom's favorite flower?"

"Yeah, she invited me to dinner with ya'll this weekend," he informed her.

Jenn's heart stopped. Nick. At her house. Rob was not going to like that. She wondered when her mother was going to tell her. And if her mom was going to invite Rob. Oh, this was not going to go well. "She did? She hadn't mentioned it."

Nick gave her his all-American smile. "I ran in to her earlier today and she invited me. Probably just hasn't had time to tell you."

Jenn gave an uncomfortable smile back. "Yeah, haven't talked to her today." Jenn paused, lost in thought about how bad Saturday was going to be. Then she remembered he had asked a question. "Lilies," she finally answered.

"Lilies," Nick repeated, his smile faded a little after her reaction.

She stuffed her stained shirt in to her bag and shut her locker. She didn't even notice the emotions written all over his face at her reaction. All she could think about was getting home and giving her mom the third degree. "Well, I need to get going. Have a safe shift."

Nick brightened his smile slightly, "Thanks. You have a good night."

Jenn made a hasty exit. She was just relieved that Nick hadn't pushed her more about the bruise. She knew how bad it looked and really didn't want to make too in depth a lie. After a while, they all got so hard to keep straight.

Later that evening, Nick was having a hard time keeping his mind straight. The bruise he had seen on Jenn had been atrocious. He doubted it had been from a fall, but really didn't know Jenn well enough to push for more details. He only hoped she wasn't repeating her mom's history.

Nick shook his head. He really couldn't imagine Jenn taking abuse from anyone. She'd been a tough teenager. A beat cop in a major city. She didn't seem like the type. He let out a sigh, clearing his head. Maybe she just bruised easily? That seemed a more likely scenario to him.

If only he could ask her. Maybe he'd say something to Jessica Moore when he went to her house for dinner. Surely she would know if something was going on with Jenn. Then again, Jenn did say her mom had been sick for the last year. Jenn might not have told her mom. And Nick didn't want to be the one to put that thought in Jessica's head.

_Just stop_, Nick told himself. Jenn was an adult. If she needed help, she could ask for it. She wasn't a teenager anymore. And to him, that was part of the problem. She had grown in to an attractive woman. He had to admit, that's part of the reason he couldn't get her off his mind. He couldn't forget the sparkle in her eyes when she had told him that he was the reason she got in to law enforcement.

_Law enforcement. Work, _he told himself. _Must get to work._ With that thought and her smile on his mind, he shoved everything else out and focused.

"Focus, Mom," Jenn was getting impatient with her mother. She wanted to know why Jessica had invited Nick to dinner, but Jessica kept going back to the news. It was a typical avoidance tactic. "Why?"

Jessica Moore let out a sigh. She knew that Jenn would never let it go. "Because I'll never forget what he did for this family. And now that I can, I'd like to properly thank him."

"Is Rob invited?" Jenn asked cautiously.

"You think he'd come?" Jessica replied snarkly, knowing that Rob didn't like her, which was just fine with her. She didn't like him either.

Jenn had a quick thought. "Wait, this Saturday is the second weekend of the month isn't it?"

Jessica nodded, not knowing where her daughter was going.

A look of relief swept across Jenn's face. "Second weekend of the month is when he goes to LA with his buddies to surf."

"Problem solved," Jessica smugly replied.

"I still don't like it," Jenn told her mother. "He is my coworker now. I just don't want it to look weird."

Jessica waved her hand in dismissal. "It's just dinner. Plus, your mom and baby sister are going to be there. What would anyone get from that?"

Jenn just shook her head. It wasn't really what other people thought that bothered her. It was her thoughts about him coming over that bothered her. She knew he was something she shouldn't even hope for.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Catherine Willows walked towards one of the work areas in the lab. She was looking for the new day shift CSI, Jennifer Moore. Catherine had recently worked a scene quite similar to the one Jennifer had worked at the motel. She was going to talk to Aarons, the primary CSI on the case, but he was on another scene. Catherine figured Jennifer could give her a good rundown of the scene since she was there.

Catherine knocked on the doorframe, "Jennifer Moore?" she asked the attractive red head in the lab.

Jenn looked up and smiled when she saw Catherine. She nodded and replied, "Catherine Willows."

Catherine was taken aback a little at the recognition. "I see my reputation proceeds me."

Jenn walked over to Catherine and stuck out her hand. "We've met before and please call me Jenn."

Catherine took the younger woman's hand. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

"I didn't really expect you to. I was 16. My mom and ex-stepdad had gotten in to an altercation. You and Nick Stokes processed the scene, but I'm sure you've processed thousands of scenes since then," Jenn filled Catherine in.

"Aaahhhhh," Catherine replied, the woman's face still not striking a chord. "I'm honored that I made such an impression."

Jenn could see that Catherine still didn't remember, but she wasn't offended. It was a decade ago, and like she said, she was sure Catherine had processed thousands of scenes since then. "You obviously didn't come here to chat me up about old times. So what can I do for you?"

"Tell me about the man in the motel room," Catherine inquired.

"Wesley Bickett, 32, tourist and registered occupant of the room," Jenn started. "Last call on his cell was to an escort agency. Last I heard, the cops were still trying to tracking down the girl, Samantha McKie. We believe she made it to the room because there were two wine glasses in the room, one with lipstick on the rim. It's impossible to tell if they had sex due to the damage to the body. There were apparent acid burns on the face, hands, feet, and genitals.

"The burns are a little confusing because they weren't to conceal his identity. Don't think robbery was a motive due to the vic's wallet being intact. All the credit cards were accounted for. The number and viciousness of the stab wounds make it almost seem personal. However, we can't find any link between the girl and Bickett. And the murder weapon is still unaccounted for," Jenn told her.

"Were you able to lift DNA from the lip prints?" Catherine inquired.

Jenn nodded. "No match in the system, but will definitely have something to match when the girl is found. Why? Have you found the girl?"

Catherine shook her head. "Think we found another victim."

Jenn smiled slightly. Her first homicide and it might be a serial killer. It was enough to make her day. Catherine started to describe the new seen for Jenn as she paced the room.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Jenn paced nervously back and forth down the hall of her mother's ranch home. Nick was going to be arriving any minute for dinner. Rob was safely in L.A. so he couldn't mess things up. That was going to be her job tonight.

The doorbell rang, causing Jenn to jump out of her skin. She hadn't run in to Nick for the last couple days-probably because she'd been avoiding him like the plague. She had been trying to dig up anything she could on him to tarnish his image in her mind. Unfortunately all she found out were things that made him live up to the ideal in her head. The doorbell rang again.

"Can you get that?" her mom called to her from the kitchen. "My hands are full."

"I'll get it!" Jackie squealed as she raced down the hall past Jenn. Jackie wanted to be everyone's best friend.

"Jackie!" Jenn tried to stop her, but knew she had failed when she heard the door being opened.

"Hel-lo!" Jackie greeted Nick after opening the door. Jenn made it there just as Jackie had opened it all the way. She turned and looked at Jenn. "Who's the hottie?" Nick let out a small chuckle.

Jenn's cheeks turned the color of her hair. "Jackie!" she scolded. "Where did you hear that?" And then she quickly turned to Nick. "I'm so sorry. Kids! Please come in," she stuttered a little, taken aback by how handsome Nick looked. He was wearing black dress slacks and a deep maroon long sleeve dress shirt with a matching striped tie. As much as she hated to admit it, Jackie was right—Nick was a hottie. And that did not help her nervousness one bit.

Jenn shooed Jackie away and allowed Nick through the doorway. Nick paused for a moment, stuck by how beautiful Jenn looked with hair down in soft curls around her face and how the emerald of shirt set off her eyes. "Thank you," Nick said, presenting a bouquet of lilies.

"Why don't you give those to mom yourself?" Jenn suggested, knowing how much it delight it would give her mother.

Nick nodded and hung on to the flowers. "It's easy to tell that you and Jackie are sisters," he told her as she led him to the dining room. "Her hair may be black, but y'all have the same face and eyes."

Jenn smiled slightly. "There is a strong family resemblance," she agreed. Then she looked over her shoulder, "How are you?"

"Doing pretty good," he responded. "How's your shoulder?" he asked as they entered the dining room where Jessica was standing.

Jessica heard Nick's question and shot Jenn a look that Jenn hoped Nick didn't see. With her eyes, Jenn told her mom it was nothing. "Just fine," she answered him and her mother.

Lucky for Jenn, Nick stepped around her and handed the lilies to Jessica. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful hostess."

Jessica blushed. "Oh, thank you." She then excused herself to put them in some water.

A short while later, the four of them were seated around the table, enjoying their meal. Jenn and Nick sat on one side of the table while Jessica and Jackie sat on the other. They joked and laughed, catching up on their lives over the last ten years. Nick tried to keep the stories light due to Jackie being present.

At one point, Jackie took out her cell phone and took a picture of Jenn and Nick laughing at one another. She giggled as she made a funny caption and posted it on her Facebook page.

"What are you doing?" Jenn asked, not realizing that Jessica had gotten Jackie a cell phone.

"Posting your picture to my Facebook page," she replied, flashing the picture at Jenn.

"A Facebook page?" Jenn looked at her mother. "I thought we agreed you needed to be older before you got a page."

Jessica gave Jenn a trite smile. "All the kids have one. Plus, I have her password and check her activity."

"And Rob's my friend," Jackie added, thinking it would make things better.

The color drained from Jenn's face. "And you just posted that picture?"

Jackie nodded and looked confused. She didn't understand why Jenn would care so much. "Do you want me to take it down?"

Before she could answer, Jenn's phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID and cursed under her breath. Then she excused her self from the table. "Hey Rob," she could be heard answering the phone.

Nick raised an eyebrow and turned to Jessica. "What's that all about?"

Jessica nodded towards Jackie and Nick understood. She didn't want to talk about it in front of the young girl. "Jackie, why don't you go find Jenn's baby album so we can embarrass her?" Jessica asked, giving Jackie a knowing smile.

The girl giggled. "Ohhhh, mom, you're bad!" But she ran off to find the album.

As soon as she was sure that Jackie was out of earshot, she quietly replied, "I'm not exactly sure, but I don't like it. "

"What do you mean?" Nick asked cautiously.

Jessica let out a sigh. "I don't have any proof, but having been a battered spouse, I see signs, bruises. She explains them all away, but…"

Nick nodded. He completely understood. He'd met his fair share of abuse victims over the years. And even with undeniable proof, most still lied about what was going on. "I'll keep my eye on her," Nick pledged.

Jessica reached across the table and patted Nick's hand. "Thank you." She was about to say something else when Jenn came back in the room.

"I've got to go," she told them, not looking happy about it. "Rob got hurt in LA and I have to go pick him up."

"But that's almost a five hour drive—one way!" Jessica objected.

"It's not that bad and he doesn't want to ruin his buddies' weekend," Jenn explained. "Nick, it was nice to see you. Mom, I'll see you when I get back." And she was out the door before either could say another word to her.

"I got it!" Jackie squealed triumphantly, running in to the room with a photo album in tow.

Nick smiles at Jackie's exuberance. "Let's see some baby pictures!"


End file.
